Executive Summary: Poverty in India has been an age old saga.

United Nations defines poverty as The inability of getting choices and opportunities and a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to; not having the land on which to grow ones food or a job to earn ones living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation. Poverty can be seen in various dimensions that include income, health, education, security and empowerment. Right from 1954 central government has been coming in with lot of schemes like Aam aadmi bima yojna to the currently started Mahatma Gandhi Rural employment guarantee act. But how far has these schemes reached. This case study is written based on the face to face interaction of the rural at Kinathiupatti and a complete analysis of the livelihood prevailing there. Introduction: Kinathupatti is a village 3 kms away from Dindigul. The village is surrounded by Sirumalai and Palani hills providing beautiful view to the visitors. The village is known for the 8 Patti festival celebrated every year in the month of with employment and poverty as their major issues the village is struggling to feed themselves every day. Case: The case is about the livelihood activities of the lady named Vellaiammal from the village Kinathupatti in Dindigul district. There are 60 families in this village (Kinatru patti). Right from her birth the lady has been living in the same village. She was married to a person belonging to the same village. Hence she has been with the village during both rough and tough times. They have three daughters and one of the daughters is married and settled in the same village. The caste rules are very strict; if a girl marries a person belonging to another caste then her belongings are kept idle from the village. They worship lord karupasamy. They eat rice for whole day they have gas connection. Monthly once they eat non veg (1/2 kg). Livelihood: They cultivate corns seasonally according to the range of rainfall. They buy the seeds for their cultivation at Rs.2000/kg, after cultivation they sell at Rs.1300/kg. All the areas around this village do the same kind of cultivation, but it is highly rainfall dependent. Lack of rainfall has become major issue affecting their cultivation process. They dont have any other job other than

dairy. Every year, for 3 days they go to Kaariyappatti for working in a textile company as a daily wage labor. Their family is rearing cattle for the past 40 years and this is the primary source of income for the family. In 1990s they had buffalos and the buffalos died due to various seasonal changes, but now with the help of kalangium they bought two cows at Rs25000/cow and the lady has repaid all her loans. The feed for the cows are provided by kalangium (1 sack per month). Recently one kg of cattle feed costs Rs.14 but they use to get that for Rs.7 or Rs.8 and one kg of thavudu will cost Rs.20. For a month the total food consumption cost will comes around Rs.1000 to Rs.1500. They have 2 cows and 4 calves and the total cost for a month will comes around Rs.2000 to Rs.2500. They inject the sperms of hybrid cows by veterinary doctors and it takes 10 months for a cow to give birth to a calf and now they have 4 female calves. After maintaining the calves for about 3 years the cow is ready for mating. If the cows give birth to a male calf, it will been brought up for few months and sold at Rs.1000-Rs.2000 in the market and if it is a female then the family continues to do the same rearing process with the calves. The family can earn about Rs.4000 Rs.5000 by milk at the first birth of calves and the milk yield varies accordingly by the breeds, number of mates and ages of cows. The milk yield can be maintained at average level by proper feeding and maintenance. Now they take about 7 liters/ day /cow and they give about 8 liters/ day to the kalangium. The rest will be used for retail sale or own use. When the cow gives birth to more than 4 calves theyll sell the cow. The buying cost of the cow is Rs25000 and they are sold for Rs.5000 to Rs.7000. Education: The family is an illiterate except for their second daughter who has completed her studies till 12th standard. The village allows girl students to study whereas the boys are sent to do work. Spending pattern of the family: Their family spends around 3000rs monthly (for their consumption alone). They spend high amounts of money for festivals and functions. They present gold ring, chain and various other house hold items. Earlier, bride came empty handed but nowadays it has become a custom of bringing household items after marriage. The demand has gone up currently. Methodology: The case study is written by staying in the village and completely having the detailed study of the livelihood and interacting with the farmers.